Blank Flank Musketeers
by FortuneAly
Summary: Pending "Call of the Cutie", a slight retelling of how the Cutie Mark Crusaders met.


Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is by Hasbro.

Blank Flank Musketeers

Something told her she shouldn't have come here at all.

Encouraged by her parents to try and make some friends, Sweetie Belle felt out of place in the Sugarcube Corner. The inside of the bakery was all decked up for a party and everypony was having fun except her. More specifically, it was a Cutie Mark party.

One problem: Sweetie Belle had a blank flank.

Right now, she was doing all she could to hide from the other marked ponies, and finally decided on a hiding spot under a table with a punch bowl on it. She sighed in dejection. She felt that she was the only filly (heck, only pony) to have a blank flank. This embarrassed her, and she usually avoided other fillies her age.

The young Unicorn probably made a noise or something, for a hoof suddenly tapped her shoulder. She gave off a small 'eek!' in surprise, nearly banging her head on the table and nearly backed out of it in fear.

"Hey," greeted an orange Pegasus filly about her age with a pale pink mane and purple eyes. Sweetie Belle shivered in response. "It's okay. No pony's gonna hurt us here. Besides, I don't bite."

"H-hi..." Sweetie Belle greeted back.

"Whatcha doing under here, anyway?" she asked. "Don't you wanna dance with the other ponies?"

"I was invited to a party," Sweetie Belle explained nervously. "I didn't know it was a Cutie Mark party, though, until a pink filly said so."

"And?" she asked.

"My...my..."

"Yeah?"

No response.

"Go on, spit it out!" she told her in a loud whisper.

"I'm a Blank Flank!" she admitted sadly before showing her the bare white flank. The orange pony's eyes widened with delight while a smile came on her fact.

"That is so awesome!" she whisper-yelled in delight.

"It is?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Yeah! See?" she replied happily, showing off her bare flank. "I'm a blank flank, too!"

"I..." Sweetie Belle began in surprise. "I thought I was the only one!"

"I did, too," the Pegasus related. "This is just amazing! Name's Scootaloo, by the way."

"I'm Sweetie Belle," Sweetie Belle happily introduced, happy and surprised at the possibility of making her first friend. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Blank flank, blank flank, blank flank..." a few ponies outside chanted tauntingly.

"Uh oh," Scootaloo whispered before ducking and pushing Sweetie Belle's head down along with hers. "Keep your head down, I think they found us!"

Sweetie Belle took a glance around to find a few ponies, two female fillies with class in their style bullying a yellow Earth Pony filly with a rose red mane and tail, a pink-red bow on her mane, and orange-yellow eyes. "They're not aimed at us!" she told her. "They're aimed at her."

"That does it, I'm tired of hiding!" Scootaloo said with an angry glare. Sweetie Belle nodded, thinking what she was thinking. "You got a problem with blank flanks?" she demanded, raising her voice.

The whole crowd gasped, and two of the ponies in front of them stepped aside to make them visible. "I said 'you got a problem with blank flanks?'" she asked again, the two of them stepping out.

"The problem is," Silver Spoon began. "I mean, she's like, totally not special."

"No," Sweetie Belle spoke up for the first time, the two trotting up to the Earth Pony. "It means she's full of potential."

Scootaloo nodded. That was, word for word, part of what her parents told her before she came to Ponyville. "It means she could be great at anything. The possibilities are..." she added before finishing her sentence in a tone mocking Silver Spoon's. "Like, endless!"

"She could be a great scientist or an amazing artist!" Sweetie Belle continued. "Or a famous writer. She could even be Mayor of Ponyville someday!"

The Earth Pony smiled at this encouragement. "And she's not stuck being stuck up like you two." Scootaloo pointed out.

The other ponies proceeded to chuckle and giggle in amusement, save for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who were not impressed. "Hey!" Diamond Tiara began in protest. "This is my party! Why are you on her side?"

The Pegasus and Unicorn Pony nodded. "Because..." Scootaloo began.

The two revealed their blank flanks, surprising the Earth Pony. "You don't have your Cutie Marks either?" she asked. "Ah thought ah was the only one!"

"We thought we were the only two!" Scootaloo related.

"I, for one, think you are three very lucky fillies," Twilight Sparkle said, approaching them.

"'Lucky'?" Diamond Tiara repeated, Silver Spoon making a gross expression with her tongue. "How can they be lucky?"

"They still get to experience the thrill of discovering who they are and what they're meant to be!" she countered.

"And they've got all the time in the world to figure it out," Applejack added, approaching the yellow Earth filly. "Not just an afternoon," she also reminded her.

A few fillies agreed with that sentiment, surrounding the trio of blank flanks eagerly. Diamond Tiara sulked and went off, Silver Spoon following her.

"Name's Scootaloo!" Scootaloo introduced.

"And I'm Sweetie Belle," Sweetie Belle added.

"Apple Bloom!" Apple Bloom introduced, happy to meet two other blank flanks like her.


End file.
